The legislator from Thousand Oaks could once have been a political liability, but the governor has brought his more conservative -- and frequently -- contrarian Republican colleague into the tent.

On Tuesday, during an appearance here to promote the Nov. 8 special election, the governor called the senator a "terrific, terrific partner of mine."

McClintock, the only major Republican to challenge Schwarzenegger during the contentious recall effort in 2003, ended up getting 1.1 million votes, or 13.5%. Further frustrating Schwarzenegger, he signed the ballot arguments opposing the governor's budget initiatives last year.

But McClintock has produced an ad for talk radio stations supporting the governor's special election agenda. And he is expected to show up again in conservative areas, such as Redding, the seat of a county where he and Schwarzenegger received nearly 80% of the recall election votes.

The governor carefully crafts his messages for different audiences.

The appearance in Redding, where the audience was filled with Republicans, and the radio ad were designed to reassure voters that he has support from a respected conservative.

But in a San Jose stop to promote his redistricting plan, the governor appeared with two Democratic mayors and the head of Common Cause, a government watchdog group that Schwarzenegger described as "liberal."

Democrats weren't impressed by McClintock's appearance Tuesday, pointing out that nearly a quarter of Republicans in a recent Public Policy Institute of California survey said they disapproved of the governor's performance.

Steve Maviglio is a strategist for the Alliance for a Better California, the group of unions opposing Schwarzenegger. Maviglio said the governor sends a confusing message: "His campaign reflects the schizophrenia of his administration. It's conservative one day and moderate the next. No one knows where he is."

Tuesday marked McClintock's first appearance with Schwarzenegger to promote the special election. The governor has already appeared at a fundraiser for McClintock, who is running for lieutenant governor in 2006 and is unchallenged, so far, in the Republican primary.

McClintock said he never considered running against Schwarzenegger for governor. "I think overall he is doing a fine job. I have no reason to challenge him," he said.

But McClintock acknowledged voting against the last two state budgets, which the governor negotiated and signed, because they were "out of balance." He also opposed the governor's $15-billion bond and budget spending cap last year because they "took the state in the wrong direction," he said.

McClintock, a political maverick, is one of the most outspoken lawmakers in Sacramento, frequently quoting from the Founding Fathers and chastising his colleagues for bleary-eyed overspending. His appeal among fellow conservatives may become most effective with Proposition 76, the budget initiative, one of four the governor is promoting.

The initiative would limit state spending and hand the governor broader powers to cut the budget without consulting the Legislature.

The measure is considered far tougher than the budget spending cap Schwarzenegger sponsored last year.

McClintock said giving the governor authority to trim the budget would return to the office important power that "was foolishly bargained away by [Republican former Gov.] George Deukmejian in an idiotic budget deal" in the early 1980s.

Later in the day, Schwarzenegger appeared at a school supply store in Roseville, near Sacramento, to illustrate the point that the state's erratic budgets have made it difficult for educators to afford basic supplies. Schwarzenegger strolled the aisles accompanied by a few teachers, buying materials. He later paid for them at the cash register.

Speaking to reporters, he addressed criticism that he is saying his spending controls would strengthen education funding, when some budget experts have said the opposite would occur.

Schwarzenegger said that because his measure would smooth out the spikes and dips in state spending, it would offer a more stable and predictable revenue source for schools.

Until now, he said, the state has "taken our education system on a roller coaster ride. I've looked at the last few years. It goes up and down and up and down. Is that what we want to do with our children?"

Democrats and public employee unions have been fighting Schwarzenegger with a campaign nearing $90 million in spending. With teachers, firefighters, nurses and police officers out front, they have argued that the governor wants to cut vital services. They said he promised to pay back $2 billion borrowed from school budgets this year and reneged.

The union-backed campaign, funded mostly by the California Teachers Assn., points to a report by the state legislative analyst that said Proposition 76 would "result in a lower minimum guarantee" for public schools and community colleges, compared with current law.

"If it weren't bad enough that he broke his promise on education this year," Maviglio said, "he now wants to starve our schools on an ongoing basis."

That message could appeal to a wide segment of voters disturbed about the conditions in public schools, while McClintock's appeal to fiscal restraint could energize another segment.

Elizabeth Garrett, director of the USC/Caltech Center for the Study of Law and Politics, said the election appeals to conservatives because the governor's agenda does not touch on prickly social issues. Besides the spending initiative, the other measures would make it easier to fire low-performing teachers (Proposition 74), curb the use of union dues for political purposes (Proposition 75) and take away the right of lawmakers to draw their own districts (Proposition 77).

The one initiative that involves a controversial social issue -- parental notification for abortions involving minors -- has been endorsed by the governor, although he is not a sponsor.

"He hasn't taken any problematic stances in this election for conservatives," Garrett said.